We have decided to stay here in Pismo Beach until Thursday because the weather is great and it is a perfect place for us to relax and enjoy it. Yesterday's drive along the coast was exhausting and after spending the weekend in the city of San Francisco and yesterday's journey, resting seems like a good idea. Overnight it was a little cooler here than it was up in San Francisco but the daytime temperature still reached 20C and it felt much warmer sheltered in the sun.

When we got up, we walked the four hundred yards from here to the beach and we were awed by the expanse of it. We were told that Pismo Beach is the only beach left in the US that can actually be driven on, however for today we chose only to walk on it. Just up the beach from where we are staying is a grove of trees where the Monarch Butterflies come each year for the winter. We wandered up there hoping to see some, however the majority of them have already started to migrate north but we did see a few stragglers. We then drove to Arroyo Grande, a quaint village just up the road, with dozens of little antique stores, gift shops and restaurants lining the main street.

We enjoyed a great lunch before we headed back up the coast to San Simeon. We just couldn't resist getting a closer look at the Elephant Seals we glimpsed at yesterday as we drove here. Even though the majority of the adult seals are gone, there were dozens of weaned pups, some large females and a few very large males. They can grow to become fourteen to sixteen feet in length and weigh as much as two and a half tons and a couple of the males we saw today were damn close to that. The seals entertained us for almost an hour as they swam or squabbled over the best place to sunbathe. As we drove back we ventured along some of the ocean-side streets of Pismo Beach and enjoyed the sun as it was making it's decent. What a great day!